13 November 2016 (8.30am service, New Creation Church at Star Vista)
- Sermon delivered by Pastor Joseph Prince
Sermon Notes (Note: These are personal notes and not a transcription of the sermon.)
1.
The Grace Revolution!
The Grace revolution is happening
all over the world!
2017 will be 500 years
since the day (31 October 1517) German monk Martin Luther nailed his thesis
that we are under grace not under law. 31 October is the Reformation Day, which
is the day of restoration of the gospel of grace.
The bible, from genesis
to revelation, is god-breathed. God uses secretaries and their personalities to
write the books of the bible.
God uses Matthew, the tax collector, who is an organized
person to pen the Gospel. Matthew wrote like how a tax collector counts his money,
where equal amounts (14-14-14) were stacked together:
Matthew 1:17
So all the generations
from Abraham to David are fourteen
generations, from David until the captivity in Babylon are fourteen generations, and from the
captivity in Babylon until the Christ are fourteen
generations.
The
Gospel of Luke was
written by a doctor. A doctor is intimate with man.
Mark
painted Jesus as the
perfect servant. There is no genealogy in chapter 1. The servant is there to serve. One doesn’t ask the
servant about the family line. Mark
was a servant who failed who wrote about the perfect servant. He is thus the
servant who failed who wrote about the unfailing servant.
The Gospel of John opens with Jesus always in the bosom of the Father:
John 1:18
No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him.
He is always conscious of Father’s love to
him. John is a man who lives in the bosom of Jesus.
Jesus’s perfection is
just like the bible. However, not everything which is god-breathed is the
gospel. Not everything in the bible is for our days. Thus, not all in the bible
are the gospel. Now, God is restoring the gospel of grace all over the world.
The Hebrew calendar has
in this year 7 7 7. God is doing something, giving another chance. God is using
the weak to confront the mighty. The heroes in Jesus’s parables are often the Lost, the Last and the Least.
LOST
son/sheep: given most
favor
The
LAST: will be the
first
The
LEAST faith: not how
much faith you have but whom your faith is in
II. As He Is, So Are We In This World
1 John
4:17
Love has been perfected
among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world.
God loves you. God’s love for you is communicated in your life. In the Day of Judgment, believers are not there to be judged.
Believers get rewarded accordingly.
1
Thessalonians 1:3
remembering
without ceasing your work of faith, labor of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ in the sight of our God
and Father,
Work of faith, labor of
love and patience of hope: it is not just what you do but why you do what you
do.
The “Judgment“ in “the
day of judgment” (1
John 4:17) is crisis.
Where you get crisis, you are scrutinized, and it is how you can get bonus in
the day of crisis/adversity.
“as He is, so are we in this world”: Jesus was judged in our place at the
cross.
Things are getting
better for the church, as Christ sat down as us, on behalf of us. We are seated
with him, at the father’s right hand.
A lady with breast
cancer asked Jesus, “Do you have lumps in your breasts?” Of course, there is no
lump in the breasts of Jesus. Thus, as Jesus is in this world, so are we in
this world! The lady is healed of breast cancer after confessing “as Jesus is,
so are we in this world”.
More people should hear
1 John 4:17 in light of our healing.
Pastor shared a testimony
from a lady (New York, USA):
The lady had severe pain
on her right leg, especially when using the stairs or getting up. Gradually, her left knee started to hurt too. Then
she remembered that Pastor Prince spoke about the testimony of a lady who had a
lump in the breasts. That time she did not know about 1 John 4:17. However, she declared, “Jesus, you don’t have
pain on your knee, so am I.”
In the past, with the
pain, she could not kneel. Now she can kneel without pain. She can also go up
and down the stairs, use the regular bathroom, use normal chairs, and pick
things up without pain!
While prophets represent
God to man, priests represent man to God.
In the past, every year,
the high priest would sprinkle blood, which signified redemption from the
curse, healing, life, and blessing:
Leviticus 16:14
He shall take some of the blood of the bull and
sprinkle it with his finger on the mercy seat on the east side; and before the
mercy seat he shall sprinkle some of the blood with his finger seven times.
The high priest sprinkled
the blood on the mercy seat 7 times, which symbolized perfect standing in the
presence of God.
Today, Jesus is our High
Priest, and He has sprinkled His own blood on the mercy seat in heaven—the
throne of grace.
Any spirit which did not
confess that Jesus did not come in the flesh is not of God (Antichrist):
1 John
4:2-3
By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses
that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the
flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you
have heard was coming, and is now already in the world.
Jesus is 100% man and 100%
God. He is resting at the Father’s right hand.
The Bible did not use
language like “one day we die” or death.
Today, if we realize we
sin, we thank the lord for forgiving us that our sins are forgiven. A true
believe sometimes sin, but he is a believer; a sinner sometimes does good, but
he is a sinner.
David went down as a
shepherd with a stone to fight with the Goliath, the giant. God uses the weak
to confront the mighty. David took the head all the way to Jerusalem and buried
it. There is a little mountain where Goliath head was buried.
When Jesus rose from the
dead, the diseases and sin also rose from it.
As long as His thought
is pure, you will be accepted. And, how long would his thought be pure?
Forever.
The devil wants you to
believe that even if you do good, it is not good enough.
The question is not “Am
I good enough?” but “Is He good enough?”.
The question is not “Am
I accepted?” but “Is He accepted?”.
We have to keep holding
Jesus as the centre of our life.
The Old Testament may not be the gospel, however,
you bring Christ into it, it becomes the word of Christ. The bible is all about Jesus. Start to see
Jesus in the Word.
Faith comes by hearing
the Word of Christ.
Start declaring “Lord Jesus,
as you are strong and healthy, so am I in this world.”
However, the
manifestation is not always instantaneous.
Put our thought into
action, honor the Lord, get up and declare, “As You are, so are we in this world.”
Everything of creation
has fallen. Redemption still stands. In the Bible, there is only one chapter on
creation. However, God has 10 chapters on redemption! Redemption is very close
to God's heart.
Pastor shared another testimony written by a lady from New York:
In August 2012, the lady
was diagnosed with stomach cancer. She prayed before and partook the Holy
Communion daily before her visit to the doctor in October. During her visit to
the doctor in October, the doctor discovered the cancer was no longer there and
asked her what she did between August and October. She said she prayed! Praise
the Lord!
When Jesus bore our sins/diseases,
He bore the male/female diseases.
2
Corinthians 3:18
But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the
glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to
glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.
Jesus has no veil on his
face. With unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror in the glory of the Lord, we
are transformed in the same image from glory to glory. Our disqualification is
your qualification.
Grace empowers you!
Grace is unearned undeserved favor.
Pastor next shared a
testimony by a lady with bipolar disorder since 2009. She requested for Joseph
Prince Ministry to stand with me in prayer. The illness has been a painful roller-coaster ride for her, and there is no cure for it. She experienced low
self-worth and had frequent mood swings. She cut off from her friends and
family, and even prayed for death constantly. One day, she saw Pastor Joseph Prince
on TV, and he preached about how as Jesus is at father’s right hand, so are we
in this world. She started to declare that just as how Jesus’s brain/mental
health is, so is she in this world. Then, she went through daily life, without
thinking that she was “operating in faith”. A few days after this, she stopped feeling anxious.
After 1.5 months, she is completely healed and normal now!
III.
Jesus Comes to You At The Darkest Hour
Mark
6:45-48
Immediately He made His disciples get into the boat and go before
Him to the other side, to Bethsaida, while He sent the multitude away. And when He had sent them away, He departed to
the mountain to pray. Now when evening
came, the boat was in the middle of the sea; and He was alone on the land. Then
He saw them straining at rowing, for
the wind was against them. Now about the fourth watch of the night He came to
them, walking on the sea, and would have passed them by.
Jesus was likely to be
on Mount Arbel.
“Straining”:
What is your “straining area” now? Is it in area of healing? To overcome addiction?
To put bread on the table?
Do you feel that you are
going through something and the wind is against you?
“Fourth
watch of the night”: the darkest time of the night.
6pm-9pm: 1st
watch of the night
9pm-12am: 2nd watch
of the night
12am-3am: 3rd
watch of the night
3am-6am: 4th watch
of the night (darkest part of the night)
At
the darkest hour, Jesus came to them.
Jesus sees you. He knows
what you are going through, and He understands the trial that you goes through.
He is watching. He is not up there, cutting off from us.
“He saw
them” during the “fourth watch of the night”: It is not natural
watching, it’s supernatural watching. He is praying for you. He is praying for
your situation.
He is watching, his lips
are praying for you.
Jesus is not so far
away.
Matthew
14:25-33
Now in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went to them, walking on the sea. And when the
disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, "It is a
ghost!" And they cried out for fear. But immediately Jesus spoke to them,
saying, "Be of good cheer! It is I; do not be afraid." And Peter
answered Him and said, "Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on
the water." So He said, "Come." And when Peter had come down out
of the boat, he walked on the water to go to Jesus. But when he saw that the
wind was boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried out, saying,
"Lord, save me!" And
immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him, and said to him,
"O you of little faith, why did you doubt?" And when they got into
the boat, the wind ceased. Then those who were in the boat came and worshiped
Him, saying, "Truly You are the Son of God."
Jesus is going to walk
on the very thing (stormy sea) that troubles you. God introduces himself as “I
am”
Peter walked to Jesus on
water when he placed his eyes on Jesus.
Keep our eyes fixed on Jesus.
Peter cannot walk on the
water without fixing his eyes on Jesus. Walking on water is beyond men. As long
as your eyes are on Jesus, it’s supernatural, and you will receive redemption.
Men can fail, God
cannot.
Men’s extremities are
God’s opportunities.
Have you experienced
being caught by a trial despite having high qualifications and good qualities?
Only Jesus can save you.
Put your eyes on Jesus, and
become as He is— above the storm, above the wave.
The storm has nothing to
do with walking on water, however, when we take our eyes away from Jesus, we
become stupid.
This incident was put
there as a lesson. What happens when your faith fails?
- - Peter
began to sink
- He
called “Lord! Save me!"
- Jesus
stretched out his hands
We may take our eyes off
Jesus, however, He does not take his eyes off from us.
One day the Church will
have Jesus physically back here with us.
Ephesians 5:30
For
we are members of His body, of His flesh and of His bones.
Of His
flesh and of His bones:
We are members of His body. Not just the mystical aspect.
To love someone is to
identify with the person:
Isaiah
63:9
In all their affliction He was afflicted, And the Angel of His Presence saved them;
In His love and in His pity He redeemed them; And He bore them and carried them
All the days of old.
Love identifies, love
wants to be one with the person he loves.
Even with your pain,
love wants to take your pain.
God’s love is so much
more. He takes all your pain and sin, and He gives you his position and gives
you things that you can’t attain on your own.
1
Corinthians 6:15
Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ?
Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a harlot?
Certainly not!
“Your bodies are members
of Christ”: It means that literally. Thus, respect your body.
It is easy to preach the
law. However, to preach grace, it takes Holy Spirit.
IV.
Conclusion
1 John
3:2-3
Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been
revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be
like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.
And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.
“for we
shall see him as he is”: We see more and more of him in
scriptures and in preaching; we shall see more and more of him.
The way we see Jesus is
seeing him in the bible, in the scriptures. When we see him, we are like him.
Pastor closed by sharing
another testimony:
A lady’s son had autism.
She declared 1 John 4:17 over her son that since the Lord does not have autism,
so does her son. The autism symptoms of her son diminished and she could
consider transferring him out of the special school he is attending!
Amen!
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